Book Review: Drive - Forget What You Know About Incentives And Find Out What Motivates People

Book Title and Edition: Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us. Reprint Edition.

Author: Daniel H. Pink

Condensed Review/Thesis: As leaders, we need to motivate people to do their best; too bad we're getting it all wrong.

Author's Background: Daniel H. Pink's eclectic career includes everything from speech writing for Al Gore and serving as aide to Secretary of Labor Robert Reich to becoming a "free agent," bestselling author, and popular TED talker.

Intended Audience: Business leaders, educators, parents, coaches and those who need to motivate people to achieve breakout performances and better results.

Larry's Two Cents: The higher the reward, the better the performance. True. If you're asking people to churn out more parts at a factory or assemble products faster. As soon as you require more than rudimentary cognitive effort, guess what? The opposite is true. Daniel Pink argues - and backs up his assertions with numerous scientific studies - that motivation, as we know it, does not work for the 21st century worker. So...what does?

In Drive, Pink explores why motivation is broken, and more importantly, how we as leaders can fix it. Is money a motivator? Sure. Even your most dedicated employees aren't volunteers. You need to pay them enough to get money off the table as an issue. This frees them to achieve better results if you also provide the real motivators: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

What we know (that traditional motivators, like monetary reward, do not work) and what we do (try to motivate people with bonuses and perks) do not align. Pink exposes this truth and offers practical ways to change the dynamic in your own company, teams, and life. Read this book to understand how professionals are motivated and increase the effectiveness of your organization.

When To Read This Book: If you have both professionals and non-professionals in your workforce, you DEFINITELY need to know the difference in their motivations. Remember, you can only inspire; they motivate themselves and you have to understand how.